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Aim: Vascular calcification (VC) is a common complication in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and has been shown to be associated with increased cardiovascular events and mortality. This study was to explore the role of Wnt-signaling pathway in CKD VC, and the association between VC and blood pressure variability (BPV) which is a risk factor of cardiovascular events., Methods: Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into adenine-induced CKD group (n = 5), 5/6 nephrectomy CKD group (n = 5), sham group (n = 5) and control group (n = 5). Low-calcium-high-phosphate diets were introduced to induce vascular calcification. Both daytime (hour-to-hour during the day) and mid-term (day-to-day for 9 days) blood pressure (BP) were collected and analyzed for BPV metrics. At sacrifice, kidney, heart and aorta samples were taken for histological analyses. Calcium deposition in aorta was identified with Alizarin Red stain and graded. Immunohistochemistry stain and western blot were performed for Wnt3a, Wnt5a, β-catenin, sclerostin, osteopontin, and α-SMA., Results: Compared with control rats, CKD rats suffered from markedly severer VC (Grade 2.6 ± 0.2 and 1.8 ± 0.8 vs 0.0 ± 0.0 and 0.2 ± 0.4, P = .0010). VC was positively correlated with vascular Wnt3a and β-catenin expression (P = .0032 and .0000), but not significantly associated with Wnta5a or sclerostin. Besides, CKD rats showed increased BPV (P < .001), which was also positively correlated with VC., Conclusion: We confirmed that CKD rats had enhanced Wnt-signaling in vascular tissue and severer aorta calcification together with increased BPV. Wnt pathway may be a potential target in future VC and BPV management in CKD., (© 2019 Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology.)

Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) strategy has been recommended in clinical guidelines for a long time due to the survival benefits associated with it. However, the underlying mechanism still needs to be explored. This retrospective cohort study included 611 patients who received hemodialysis in West China Hospital Medical Center between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014. Patient characteristics, dialysis parameters, and 1-year blood pressure records were collected at baseline. Echocardiographic changes and clinical outcomes were assessed during the 59-month follow-up. Our study showed that fistulas were associated with lower long-term systolic blood pressure (SBP) standard deviation (SD) (P < 0.0001), lower long-term SBP residual metric (P < 0.0001), and lower intradialytic SBP residual (P = 0.001). Fistulas were also associated with a higher but non-significant proportion of the newly developed left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (8.29% vs. 6.78%, P = 0.116) and increased LV volume (8.29% vs. 4.52%, P = 0.139), as well as a lower proportion of the newly developed left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) dysfunction (1.62% vs. 2.82%, P = 0.586). After a median of 59-month follow-up, catheter group showed a higher risk of cardiovascular events (hazard ratio [HR] 1.21; 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.01-1.52), all-cause infection (HR 1.25; 95%CI 1.07-1.47), and access-related infection (HR 2.88; 95%CI 1.76-4.68). However, the advantage of fistulas only retained in low-albumin subgroup (serum albumin < 40 g/l) except for access-related infections. Our results suggested the possible attribution of BPV and other patient factors to fistula-associated survival benefits.

Background: Blood pressure variability (BPV) is a potential prognostic predictor for all-cause mortality., Objectives: We conducted a retrospective cohort study to compare the prognostic value of long-term BPV with intra-dialytic BPV in hemodialysis (HD) patients., Materials and Methods: We included 611 HD patients and collected their baseline blood pressure (BP) measurements for 1 year and monitored them for 40 months. Long-term BPV was assessed by pre-dialysis BP SD and pre-dialysis absolute BP residual metric. Intra-dialytic BPV was assessed by intra-dialytic BP average real variability and intra-dialytic absolute BP residual., Results: Long-term systolic BPV showed a weak correlation with mean BP, but a stronger correlation with intra-dialytic BPV. High long-term systolic blood pressure (SBP) SD and long-term SBP residual metrics were associated with high all-cause mortality (p = 0.0084 and 0.0056, respectively), while no such association was found for intra-dialytic BPV or diastolic BPV. According to receiver operating characteristic curve with mortality as dependent variable, long-term SBP residual metric showed the strongest prognostic ability (area under curve [AUC] 0.679, p = 0.0006), which was even stronger in patients with BP ≥140/90 mm Hg (AUC 0.713, p = 0.0004). After completely adjusting for confounders, long-term SBP residual metric remained significantly associated with all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 1.628 per quartile; 95% CI 1.086-2.441)., Conclusions: Our results suggest long-term SBP residual metric to be a better predictor of all-cause mortality in HD patients, which could be used as an additional target for BP management., (© 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background/aims: Blood pressure variability (BPV) is a novel cardiovascular risk factor for the population undergoing hemodialysis (HD)., Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 526 HD patients. Four short-term peridialysis BPV metrics were analyzed: systolic blood pressure (SBP) change, SBP coefficient of variation (CV), SBP intradialytic average real variability (ARV), and absolute SBP residual. Multi variate analysis with Cox regression models were used to account for the potential confounders., Results: Short-term BPV is found to be affected by age, pre-dialysis SBP, antihypertensive drugs, dialysis time, and vascular access. Calcium-channel blockers (CCBs) were found to be associated with lower BPV than those on non-CCB therapy or no antihypertensive drugs. Patients dialyzed in the morning had a greater absolute SBP change than those dialyzed in the afternoon or evening. Patients using fistulas had a lower BPV than catheters. Higher BPV metrics including SBP CV (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.14-1.66, p=0.001), SBP intradialytic ARV (unadjusted HR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.20-1.77, p< 0.001), and SBP residual (unadjusted HR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.21-1.79, p< 0.001) were associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular events. After complete multivariate adjustment for other potential confounders, the HR remained statistically significant for SBP intradialytic ARV (HR 1.31, 95% CI: 1.04-1.66, p=0.024)., Conclusion: Peridialytic BPV may be a potential target for improved blood pressure (BP) management in HD patients. Each short-term BPV metric has different advantages and disadvantages and should be applied according to the clinical context and purpose., (© 2018 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)